Lets talk about: Obesity Acceptance

[Skatologist]

Well, I suppose this can be considered relevant:

 

[TheIceQueen]

I'm not one to judge. I have the exact opposite problem. At the age of 21, I have yet to hit over 100 pounds no matter what I try (I work out. I eat a lot. I eat the foods that my nutritionist tells me to eat) and while I don't encounter much ire from the general population, whenever I meet with a doctor, especially new ones, they treat me like I'm walking death and they have to bring up my weight issues even for an unrelated problem. Seriously. I went into a doctor once because I was worried about potential melanoma. A good deal of the time was spent by the doctor worrying over my weight instead. And this is with my trying hard to gain weight. I can only imagine what people who are overweight go through because they actually have society ridiculing them.

So, I support treating people like people without being harsh on them for no real reason. I don't support the idea that obesity is healthy, but let's at least treat them like people. I doubt making fun of smokers has led to many of them quitting. I'm sure it'll be much the same for overweight people, in general.

 

[Seraj33]

I am going to put my opinion down without any frills.

I don't think being obese is okay because it is a deadly health condition.
I don't think you should disrespect someone who is obese the same way you shouldn't disrespect someone with another disease, health or geneticly caused.

Fun fact: It is believed ancient egyptian healers/physicians treated diabetes (or what it was called then, sweet urine disease) by making the patient dig trenches or do other physical work, pretty much the same way doctors do today.

 

[Auberon]

I presume someone can provide a sane perspective on the topic.

Why do they act like they're entitled to everything? "You are obligated to find me attractive" etc, other than Tumblr echo chamber.

 

[beastro]

At the other end of the spectrum, you've got complaints fat people seeing a doctor who will automatically assume that being fat is the cause of whatever ailment they have, without bothering to do a proper diagnosis (with obvious results). Or how attempts to deal with "the obesity epidemic" usually revolve around continuing to shame fat people for being fat, only moreso.

Sounds to me like this is being filtered through someone's perception.

Reminds me of a family who keep trying to get doctors to help them for their problems, but refuse to check things off the list of possible causes because they simply don't want to change.

Said people should work on losing weight, and then if their issues persists, work with their doctor to find other causes.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

I feel bad for people with extreme obesity in light of recent research indicating that they may carry a virus that causes it. My aunt pushes 300 pounds (at about 5'5") and always eats sensible portions of healthy food, so I DO believe there's merit to the findings. Furthermore, if people want gastric bypass surgery to help with weight loss, then good for them! They're willing to go through an operation for their own health in spite of some horrible side effects common to the surgery (side effects that I share almost 100% after having Nissen fundoplication surgery seven years ago).

However, I don't feel bad for obese people I see in restaurants who order outrageous amounts of food. That's something I can't wrap my brain around. I have to wonder if they're at all concerned about their health or if they just don't care, especially if it's a restaurant that's notorious for massive portions and/or serve food with criminally high calorie counts.

For me personally, I'd never hook up with someone who's obese, but not out of disgust or prejudice. I have a metabolism that most people would kill for (got it from both of my parents) and I'm rail thin. That said, I also have problems with anorexia, and so pounds drop off of me at an alarming rate when I relapse. At my lowest, I was 93 pounds and I'm only half an inch shy of 6' tall - a BMI of 13, which is severely underweight. This may sound really odd, but if I were romantically attached to someone who's obese, it would trigger me into a downward spiral. I'd get so stressed out fighting my impulses that I'd start to fear calories out of a need to control my always-distorted body image.

All of that doesn't mean I won't BEFRIEND a person who's obese, because I generally don't care about people's outside appearance - it's what's inside that matters. I know that sounds like a total contradiction of what I said above, and I can't even explain it. The only thing I meant in my last paragraph was that I couldn't enter into a relationship with someone who's obese because of my mental health issues that so easily turn into physical self-destruction.

Take it for what it's worth... I'm not sure I successfully expressed my opinion in this post. I hope it doesn't offend because it's not meant to.

 

[ultratog1028]

Some people are fat. I accept this. It's your body. You do whatever you want with it. Short story is, Americans, and a lot of developed countries, are fat because we can afford it. And Sugar is put in EVERYTHING. Seriously. For those who don't want to be fat, simply don't eat anything with an ingredient list containing any of the following in the ingredients: Sugar. Anything ending in "trose". Cane. Anything starting with "Malt".

Then give up because you'd starve to death most likely (with the exception of some diabetic foods).

 

[ultratog1028]

I presume someone can provide a sane perspective on the topic.

Why do they act like they're entitled to everything? "You are obligated to find me attractive" etc, other than Tumblr echo chamber.

Because society has promised these people things in media. Women will always find their Prince Charming. The Hero always gets the girl. Etc.

This is the same reason people who complain about the friend zone being the most evil thing ever act the way they do. Society promised something, Reality didn't deliver. Frustration occurs and instead of trying to fix themselves or develop as humans, they demand it.

That said, I try to look past the physical with people I'm interested in. (hell, they'll age anyway. I want a Life long relationship with someone I enjoy, not someone who only looked pretty.) Common interests is my priority for girlfriends.

 

[ultratog1028]

If you are proud of the fact you are fat you are fucking pathetic.

Then that logic goes both ways. That's how opposites work. Otherwise it creates a double standard.

I'm trying to say physical appearance shouldn't matter one way or another if the individual is happy as they are.

 

[Westaway]

Thin people are more attractive

Because society has decided that fat people are unattractive. There is a problem there.

This is demonstrably false. People are attracted to healthy humans. Thin is almost always healthier than fat. Therefore humans are attracted to thin people more so than fat people. That's not social conditioning, it's biology.

 

[thehorror2]

I'd say that the people trying to pass morbid obesity (to the point where basic mobility is a problem) as something healthy are full of BS, but the movement as a whole has merit. Somewhat similar to my opinions of the MRA collective: yes, there are some really poisonous elements to the movement, but taken in isolation from its members, the issues they raise are very valid. And yes, there absolutely is a genetic element (or at least SOMETHING specific to individuals that promotes obesity in at least SOME cases. I've met too many heavy people who work out MUCH more than I do (and I'm a pretty fit person, myself) to think otherwise. "Fat=lazy 100% of the time" is just as damaging a myth as "obesity is as healthy as being a normal weight" is, if not more because the former promotes low self-worth, which leads to depression and other mental disorders that are a lot harder to treat than something that can be fixed with a lap-band surgery.

 

[Proto Taco]

My opinion on the matter is quite simple:

Being fat is unhealthy, but fat people shouldn't be shamed for being fat. If anything we should be helping people who are fat become fitter and more capable. Being fat is also pretty gross. It both looks gross and for the vast majority of the population being fat is the direct result of an unwillingness to maintain their own bodies which is an immediate indication of gross habits.

Also, don't even begin to compare being obese with being gay. I've had friends do just that, and...just....no words are adequate to describe the ignorance that requires.

So yeah, count me out of the 'big is beautiful' train. I'd prefer my friends and I be capable of walking across walmart without stopping at a way station. I'll even help them get there if they can stop being snitty to me about my weight for 5min.

P.S.

I'd say that the people trying to pass morbid obesity (to the point where basic mobility is a problem) as something healthy are full of BS, but the movement as a whole has merit. Somewhat similar to my opinions of the MRA collective: yes, there are some really poisonous elements to the movement, but taken in isolation from its members, the issues they raise are very valid. And yes, there absolutely is a genetic element (or at least SOMETHING specific to individuals that promotes obesity in at least SOME cases. I've met too many heavy people who work out MUCH more than I do (and I'm a pretty fit person, myself) to think otherwise. "Fat=lazy 100% of the time" is just as damaging a myth as "obesity is as healthy as being a normal weight" is, if not more because the former promotes low self-worth, which leads to depression and other mental disorders that are a lot harder to treat than something that can be fixed with a lap-band surgery.

Diet is far, far more important to weight control than exercise is. Look up how long it takes you to burn off one McDonalds whopper with fries and drink. It's ridiculous. Even the amount of exercise required to burn off a candybar is stupid high. Weight control is all about diet, without adequate dietary practices, the weight will never leave, and that's not genetics.

Also, trans fats will boost your fat deposits by around %30, give or take depending on the person. There are studies done on that, but I'm afraid the internet is simply not important enough a venue for me to hunt down the link for you. High Fructose Corn Syrup is also known to stimulate fat deposits, and both HFCS and trans fats are in almost everything at the grocery store, especially if it's packaged. So yeah, our food manufacturers are setting us to be fat. But hey, it keeps costs down right? Improves their bottom line, so how can it be bad?

 

[Eddie the head]

This is the same reason people who complain about the friend zone being the most evil thing ever act the way they do. Society promised something, Reality didn't deliver. Frustration occurs and instead of trying to fix themselves or develop as humans, they demand it.

I always thought people complained about the friend zone because unrequited love sucked. But whatever there is always a more complicated reason that will make me feel better in the end.

 

[ultratog1028]

Thin people are more attractive

Because society has decided that fat people are unattractive. There is a problem there.

This is demonstrably false. People are attracted to healthy humans. Thin is almost always healthier than fat. Therefore humans are attracted to thin people more so than fat people. That's not social conditioning, it's biology.

Actually not entirely true. Thin =/= healthy. Just as obese people aren't necessarily attractive, Anorexic aren't either. The in between range is what society has control to influence over. In most African tribes for instance, Fatter people tend to be more attractive, since it implies that you aren't starving. Scarcity is the name of the game.

This is the same reason people who complain about the friend zone being the most evil thing ever act the way they do. Society promised something, Reality didn't deliver. Frustration occurs and instead of trying to fix themselves or develop as humans, they demand it.

I always thought people complained about the friend zone because unrequited love sucked. But whatever there is always a more complicated reason that will make me feel better in the end.

Unrequited love isn't love. It's fantasy at best, Obsession at worst. But yeah, it does suck.

 

[Eddie the head]

Unrequited love isn't love. It's fantasy at best, Obsession at worst. But yeah, it does suck.

That is so not up to you to decide.

 

[NemotheElvenPanda]

As someone who generally finds plus-sized, bulky, thick men attractive as hell, I can't get behind obesity acceptance. Now making people aware of the fact that not everyone can be a Abercrombie model is a good thing and should be encouraged. There are people that just have more meat on them, and there's nothing wrong with that. However there's a line between having to wear larger pants for most of your life, and being so heavy that it puts stress on your heart. Obviously people who are medically obese shouldn't be harassed or judged upon so I can get behind the premise of obesity acceptance, but its goals are too unrealistic in light of the serious health issues the USA and many developed nations face due to obesity.

 

[MHR]

Obese isn't and shouldn't be one of the "protected" groups of people. I'm obese as hell at 6-foot and 280 lbs, and if I were to hear anyone talk about "it's perfectly fine" I'd be like, "what the hell is wrong with you?" My whole family, of which a few of our members are overweight, knows we're at the wrong bodyweight. We're not trying to become skinny, just not so freakin' fat. Every day we hike a few miles and a few times a week I stop by the gym for a proper workout. Sometimes we eat junk, but most of the time we eat very well. We're losing weight, although it is slow.

I find that people content with setting the bar that low, that are bringing down society and health premiums up with them to be a nuisance.

If you have a bit of fat hanging off of you but you still fit snugly in the "ok" zone on the BMI chart, then good. It doesn't have to be about looks, but you're going to be one of the very few that are perfectly healthy while being a bit chubby.

Don't ever get started though about it being anyone else's fault about why they're not attracted to your fat ass. Love ain't fair and it shouldn't be. There are probably good reasons some people aren't attracted to you, and every pound that you're overweight is one of them. Don't forget self-control is part of your inner-beauty.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

In all honesty, though; isn't the definition of obesity "a condition in which body fat has accumulated to the point where it can induce negative health effects". So, by definition, obesity acceptance is telling people to accept negative health effects and be okay with it. I know I'm being pedantic, but we have semantics for a reason.

I agree. The "movement" may as well be about accepting other people's incompetence and indifference towards unhealthy life style. I don't deny anyone the right to destroy their health and their body, but don't tell me that I have to agree that it's the right choice. It's not. It's not even a choice. It's just laziness. Both physical and mental. Those people have no fuckin' clue how good it feels to be in good shape. To be able to run for miles, to be strong enough to physically defend yourself and your loved ones. Do simply do things that most other people can't. And to feel powerful and mentally focused all the time. Because being in shape is good for the brain too.

This whole idea that obese people want to be accepted as they are is just another example of American chronic mental illness. Everybody with a problem in the US would rather be accepted than work towards solving their problems. And IMO, obesity is on top of the list of problems that you CAN solve if you only had the willpower to do it.
And it's not just about how obese people look. That's not the only reason they're not considered attractive. It says something about a person when they allow themselves to become that way. Nobody in a healthy state of mind WANTS to be obese. And people who don't want to be obese but aren't doing anything about it cannot possibly have an attractive personality.

Long story short, I don't like fat people that are content with staying fat.

 

[Batou667]

Because society has decided that fat people are unattractive. There is a problem there.

I don't buy that, at least not in the normal hand-wavy sense where "society" is invoked as a nebulous entity with its own agency that exists outside of, and often works contrary to, the will of the people.

People have decided that fat is unattractive. Is that a problem? I'd argue no, not necessarily, so long as fat people aren't being lynched in the streets or barred from voting. Nobody is obliged to find every last person attractive. Personally, I'm glad that diseased, unhealthy bodies aren't admired by the mainstream and more athletic, healthy physiques are considered attractive.

It's tricky, on the one hand the BMI is horse shit, on the other, i find being fat intensely uncomfortable.

I dunno about "horse shit"; I'd be very wary about rejecting BMI entirely out-of-hand. As a quick and simple first step to flagging up potential health issues it's a useful yardstick, albeit one with limitations. It assumes a standardised set of body proportions and composition - so it breaks down when used with the very young, the very old, the very tall or short, or people with above-average muscle mass. At 6'1" and 107kg I'm on the lower end of "obese" by BMI standards, but that's because I'm an amateur powerlifter - I'm actually fitter than most of the population and my bodyfat percentage is probably slightly under average (somewhere in the 15%-20% range). But for the average Joe or Jolene, the BMI scale is perfectly valid as a rough diagnostic tool.

Funny thing about the fat acceptance movement. It actually does better promoting healthiness than constant shaming. A nice study came out recently pointing this very fact out.

If you tell people that they don't need to constantly loathe and hate their bodies, surprise surprise, they actually become more interested in taking care of themselves. They stop thinking about their bodies as adversaries and start thinking of it as a valued part of themselves, and instead of hating themselves and their physical form, they instead work towards health. Not (just) weight loss. Health. Being able to exercise, being able to do all sorts of activities, being able to feel better in all sorts of ways.

Well, while I agree that positivity is more motivating than negativity, I see a lot of Fat Acceptance advocates taking "My body is fine as it is!" to mean "...and therefore I should never, ever have to change, in fact I'll get even fatter because food tastes great and my curves are fabulous", and that's just not a healthy or useful mindset to have. We have to be realistic and acknowledge that obesity isn't a desirable state of being, and people shouldn't be content being unhealthily overweight.

I follow various health and fitness communities and it seems men enter the world of diet and exercise with a very different mindset to women. With women, being happy is key - if that means losing weight and looking great, so be it; if that means redefining "beautiful" to be synonymous with "fat", so be it; the end goal is a position of happiness because being unhappy about themselves is an unthinkable position to be in. Whereas the men, even morbidly obese and lifelong over-eaters, enter the community with a much more honest appraisal of themselves and a much more concrete end-goal (I want to lose X pounds, I want to fit into my 32" jeans, I want to be able to lift X weight) and rather than amplifying their unhappiness and being paralysed by it, they keep their negative feelings tempered to a level of dissatisfaction that drives them onwards. And as a result, you tend to see much more dramatic and long-term lifestyle changes among the men who have decided to commit to a change, than women. Of course that's just a trend I've personally observed, rather than a hard-and-fast rule, but I can't help but think that the message women receive that it's more important to be happy than to succeed at their goals is a factor that undermines the efforts of women who would otherwise be getting strict with themselves at mealtimes and sweating it out at the gym.

Tl;dr: a supportive community is great, but it's a fine line between that and "crabs in a bucket" syndrome.